Page 24 of Special Agent Isabella

Still on the floor below him, she got a wonderful view of the man’s body, his strong leg muscles, and her eyes were drawn to the male package outlined vividly.

What the hell was wrong with her? Jumping up swiftly, she went to where he lay with his arm over his eyes and stood with her hands on her hips. “Out.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Seriously, asshole, don’t you dare fall asleep here.”

“Not gonna. Just give me a few minutes to get my strength.”

She reached down to grab his hand and found herself instantly lying over him.

“Gotcha. You just couldn’t let a guy have a minute, could ya? Just had to be the naggy woman.”

“Am not.” She looked down into his tired face and saw the gleam of teasing in his eyes. “Stop messing around. You need to go to bed.”

“I’m in bed.”

“No, you’re not. In bed, I mean. You’re on my bed and you’re not staying.”

“I never had any intention of staying. On the other hand, if you want me to, my mind can be changed.” His look went from teasing to serious.

Frustration overwhelmed her when every cell in her body screamed Yessss!!

No fucking way.Her brain had a mind of its own. Realizing she was taking too long with a comeback; she tried jerking out of his arms. Unfortunately, that brought her lower regions in touch with his hardness. Instant passion ignited.Jesus help me.

They both froze. He looked up at her, seemingly at a disadvantage, yet he didn’t shift. She had the strangest impressionhe did so on purpose. As if leaving her the decision for their next move.

By forcing her upper body away, her lower body became deeply shmushed against his and again heat instantly attacked. Weakness kept her from pulling away completely this time. Her gaze met his watchful stare and her indecision seemed obvious.

Slowly, he raised his hands to her face and slid them under her long hair that had curtained around them. With a very slight effort, he forced her face to lower so he could kiss her lips.

Letting him have his way, she still kept her arms stiff so only her face met his. Hoping that tasting him would give her an indication that she really didn’t like it, she opened to his tongue.

Wanting to prove to herself that their earlier kiss had been a huge mistake, not something she should have spent so much time remembering and reliving, she thought of this heated moment as research.

Yeah… right!

A strange languor took over her limbs as they deepened the kiss. Body to body now, both invested with the other, they turned the meeting of lips into a seduction that broke through all the boundaries Bella had thought were Tanner-proof.

As his head lifted to meet hers, his strong arms wrapped around her body. Hands caressed her shoulders, her lower back, and wandered down her hips to eventually hold her firm bottom and press it closer.

As if he couldn’t get enough of touching her, feeling her draped over him, he moaned with his success of bringing them even closer. His smooth, warm lips made her melt with desire… the desire for more.

Totally invested now, she vaguely knew what he was doing, but it felt so good, she couldn’t even think to stop him. The burning need to let him do with her as he wanted seemed to kill her earlier hostility.

It was the alarm ringing loud enough to wake the dead that brought her from the clouds of heaven to dump her back on the wrinkled bed of desire.

Ripping herself from his arms, she was the first to her feet. He followed within seconds. Moving her behind him to get to the door, he’d pulled his weapon from its side holster. “Stay here. I’ll check it out.”

“No fucking way, Tanner. I’ll be right behind you.” Grabbing the gun from under her mattress, she did exactly as she promised. When they hit the hallway, he signaled for her to go to the left while he took the right.

Nodding, she did what he wanted. Now was no time to pull the your-not-my-boss card. Now they were a team.

ChapterTwenty

The screaming of the alarm drove Stacy out of a lovely dream into the reality of a nightmare. Fear forced her out of the bed. Caught in her quilt, flailing, she finally broke free to run into the room next door. Abbie met her halfway, her face filled with terror.

“Mommy, what’s happening?”

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